


Tripping Over Thresholds

by WhisperOfTheDay



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bipolar Disorder, Chronic Pain, Drift Side Effects, Gen, Post-Movie, phantom pains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-03-30 09:24:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13948608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperOfTheDay/pseuds/WhisperOfTheDay
Summary: He suddenly realises with full force worth of two people's theories, guesses and observations, in what an awful mess they have thrown themselves into.





	Tripping Over Thresholds

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking to myself on twitter about drift aftereffects. And my bro got inspired and drew some rad art. And then I got inspired and this happened.

His right leg has been annoyingly hurting since morning, like a dozen of bees stinging at once. It was what woke him up actually. Then, as he made his way to the lab to obligingly start writing a report, it turned into a disturbing pulsing ache, which slowly but surely consumed his whole spine, and it became hard to focuse on much else.

It's quite alarming actually, but with the ammout of running and falling and scrapping his knees and hands and ankles on broken concrete, it was probably to be expected.

Newt finds himself satisfied with that explanation and carries on with his day. Well, tries to.

As an icing on the cake, his head is throbbing relentlessly, reminding him of the amount of alcohol he consumed the day before yesterday and of the pretty intense hangover he had after.

The grand celebration was fun, he'd give it that. Hasn't heard from his probably traumatised psyche since it started, though he definitely expected to get nightmares about Otachi and all the others, and that hellscape they saw, soon. It was probably fair he was paying the price for that little reprieve, but it didn't feel fair at all- hell, his whole body was in pain now- _ugh, will I ever just catch a break?_

 

The results of their brain scans are printed out and in front of him, he has been anxious and excited to study the aftereffects of the human-kaiju Drift - _I've certainly made one hell of a breakthrough_ \- but he couldn't collect his thoughts, couldn't concentrate. It has always been a problem for him, since before he could remember, but it never troubles him when it comes to what he enjoyes doing. What the hell is wrong now?

 

Newt leans on the table to ease some weight off the leg, and carries on staring into nothing, willing the pain and the fog in his mind to vanish. 

His lab partner is the only other person in the room, busying himself with typing something on a laptop, his back to Newton, seemingly ignoring his presence. 

To think about it, now would be a good time to start an argument, a perfect way to switch his attention off what bothers him, as he pretty much always does. Problem is, he can't come up with a topic, or a reason, all he can think about is how much his limbs hurt. 

"I need to get this bloody leg checked," Newt says before he thinks it through, still trying to concentrate on the data before him, since entertaining himself with a little fight is probably out of option. Gottlieb doesn't reply in any way, and it doesn't look like he plans to. He only seems to have hunched a little..

 

Newt feels a sudden need to get comforted, which is strange since his idiot lad partner can't know the beginning of how that _feels, when you experience the same pain that once broke your life every day, again and again and..._    
  
  
_what_  
  
  
  
_wait.. **what**_  
  
  
  
Newt just stands there, staring blankly at Gottlieb's cane, as gears in his head turn at the speed of light.   
  
Answers appear faster than he comes up with questions.   
  
Because somebody has already answered them.  
  
  
_no way_  
  
  
_holy-_  
  
  
  
" **No!** " the physicist stands from his seat so abruptly Newt staggers, stopping midstride halfway to Gottlieb's table.  
  
Newt can see anger and confusion and shame and fear so plainly on his friend's face it cuts off his jumbled trail of thoughts before he can start trying to voice them. He finds himself as conflicted and as scared.  
  
"It's not what you're thinking," Hermann all but breathes out, evidently struggling to put on the mask of calculating indifference. Newt suddenly feels a familiar rush of excitement give him voice again. The man standing before him shudders and breaks eye contact.  
  
"How do you know what I'm thinking?!" Newt challenges, grinning. His mind aflame, a battlefield of emotions, and physical pain no longer matters.  
  
"I know this look!" He is shouting back now, enraged and as conflicted as Newt is, he can  _feel it._  
  
_I can literally feel it! Oh my- We undoubtedly need to sort this out quietly and rationally and professionally but this maniac just can’t control his goddamn self!-_  
  
"Hermann, do you realize what this is!? What it means!?" Newt squeaks with delight but it turns into a hysterical scream, which voices in his head echo as loudly. Somewhere far away, it feels like his brain is breaking into two halves.  
  
  
_It's amazing extraordinary unprecedented unexplainable_  
_**unexplainable** horrible unnatural frightening wrong wrong_  
  
  
_wrong_  
  
  
  
"This is a disaster, that's what it is," Gottlieb says with spite, in a low and dangerous tone, stepping closer and almost looming over Newt due to their height difference. Geiszler backs down a step, not turning away. They stare at each other hard for a second, then Hermann storms away and out of their workplace without saying another word.  
  
A wave of anxiety clutches Newt's heart and doesn't let go, making it hard to take a breath. He limps to Gottlieb's desk and crushes into his seat, rubbing his leg which began hurting again with renewed force.  
  
As it always happens, the thrill and feverish excitement that drove him eventually slipps away through his fingers like salt water. Usually the change comes gradually, but not this time, and not in the foreseeable future, he supposes. Everything's about to turn upside down.  
  
He suddenly realises with full force worth of two people's theories, guesses and observations, in what an awful mess they have thrown themselves into.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Here's the art yall!!](http://julientel.tumblr.com/post/171990617151/drifting-has-its-aftereffects)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This fic has a continuation: ["Go Down The Drain.."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050464/chapters/32364573)
> 
> Now there's gonna be sum talking, who cares that it's half past 1 a.m. :)
> 
> Okay, little tour into the mess that are my headcanons, in case some stuff is unclear:  
> • Hermann and Newt react so differently cause of their personalities. (naturally, lol)  
> To put it super simple- Newt's all about jumping headfirst into the unknown, while Hermann sticks with the science that is bound by rules of their reality. They both gonna struggle a lot, but eventually balance each other out, cause it's what they do.  
> • My bro and me figured it can't be just the leg that's the problem in Hermann's case. After shuffling through some theories on this part, we decided to settle on him having an issue with the whole musculoskeletal system. I tried to portray it as much as I could, considering we only made our minds up after I wrote this. x)  
> •Another question that came up after reading additional material and fans' theories was how did Gottlieb get this injury: was it a birth defect, something that developed over the years, or some kind of accident? I went with the third one.  
> •Hermann isn't in that much pain all the time, no. He had his own deal of running the day before, so the intensified aches were to follow.  
> • Due to Newt being drunk, as well as then having the 'best' hangover of his life, he couldn't notice anything weird.  
> Due to the same circumstances- Hermann did. I hc their drift connection is the more powerful the more emotional strain there is on either or both of them. So Herm had time to freak out, and teorize, and research, and freak out some more.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading! Any form of feedback is deeply appreciated!  
> (Also, let me know if you think this work needs more tags)  
> I have many pacrim fics in store and almost finished, I hope to post them sooner than 23rd.
> 
> Btw. Of all the Uprising promos I've only watched the first 2 trailers, so please do refrain from revealing any spoilers in the comments. Thank you♡


End file.
